Smile
by Ailetoile
Summary: ONE SHOT. Kakashi reflects on the way he and his team display their emotions.


A/N: Yeah... So my purse got stolen today. I really don't want to go into the logistics of what happened. Let's just say that it sucks and that now I'm worried I won't be able to go home for Thanksgiving any longer. And let's just say that I write when I'm upset, so you all get a short and shiny one shot. Not necessarily a happy one, but enjoy nonetheless...  
  
Disclaimer: As I'm sure you could have all guessed, Naruto's not mine, nor are any of the characters found therein.  
  
............  
  
There's something special about a smile. About what a smile can convey. The slightest variation in the set of the mouth or in the eyes of the one who smiles can change the meaning entirely. A smile can suggest happiness, joy and a thousand other positive emotions... But it can also signify pain. Sadness. Heartbreak. Devastation. Oh, the words a smile can speak if we just learn how to listen. We all hide behind our smiles, whether we mean to or not. I look around and I marvel at the stories that their smiles tell.  
  
Sakura... If you only knew the way you wear your heart on your sleeve... The way you wear your emotions in your smile. The way your lip curls ever so slightly when you are hurt and displaying your inner strength by smiling through the pain. The twitch in your cheek when you attempt to be civil with Naruto. The shine in your eyes whenever you look at your beloved Sasuke speaks more than sugary words and coy actions ever could. That benevolent smile could be directed at so many others if you would only see past your puppy love and realize that they exist. I believe that that realization will come with maturity, and when it does, the heavens know that you will be a formidable ninja. Someday, you will learn to let your smile speak for you. Sakura, in both the good times and the bad, you're brilliant when you truly smile.  
  
Sasuke, you are just as conspicuous as Sakura in your lack of smiles. A ninja must maintain control of his feelings with an iron fist, but you take this sentiment a bit too seriously. That little smirk that so often graces your lips gives away your interest, much as you hide it. It offers insight to your mind as well as anyone else's smile could. As reluctant as you are to admit it, I know that you care about your teammates in your own way. Those half-smiles I see tugging at the corners of your mouth betray you when you think no one is looking. Those cold eyes warm at the thought of a challenge, but did you know that they also warm when you allow yourself to be drawn into competition with Naruto? Did you know that they warm every time you nonchalantly defer yet another of Sakura's infinite advances? Your eyes betray your lips more often than you know. Perhaps you do not show it in the conventional way, but Sasuke, you display your fair share of smiles. What will you do when the others learn to see them for what they are?  
  
And you, Naruto... Your simple smiles are the most complex of them all. Sometimes, I believe that you could smile through anything, always with that trademark squint that hides your eyes. Your eyes define your smile. You have been through more abuse in your short life than some will experience in all of the years they live, yet you continue to smile... You amaze me. And yet, who would have ever thought that a smile could look so happy and be hiding such pain? I, like the rest of your team, may tweak at your feelings, but instead of allowing anything we say to drag you down, you slap on that smile and draw strength from our taunts. Your smile is both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness... Naruto, I hope that you can learn to use that smile well. I hope that it never fades. But most of all, I hope that there will someday be more than just the ghosts of past mistreatment and despair behind that smile when you chance to leave your eyes open.  
  
The three of you wonder why I wear my mask. What would you say if I told you that I put on this mask to hide my smile? I have lived a life that you, my students, my soldiers, will never comprehend because it is not yours. My smiles tell stories that will forever be lost upon you, just as they will be upon everybody else. It is easy for you to prompt a fond smile that is obvious from the single eye I allow you to see, but you will never see the majority of my facial expressions.  
  
I do not want the world to see my pain. I do not want the world to see that, although my eyes are dry, I am smiling through my tears. Just as you will all come to realize that your individual smiles transcend the walls you believe you have around your hearts, so have I learned that I am all too easily read.  
  
Indeed, a smile can tell many stories. Perhaps someday, I will be able to share mine. Until then, I will hide behind my mask and take comfort in the stories that your smiles share with me.  
  
Because you, all three of you, are open books. And as you all know, I love to read. 


End file.
